The law offices of Brian D. Lerner has another win: Perm granted for supervisor of mechanics.
Filed under: PERM | Tagged: Immigration, Immigration Attorney, Immigration Lawyer, PERM, PERM and iCERT systems are currently down, PERM Labor Certification | Leave a comment »
New case win for Law Offices of Brian D. Lerner: First Line Supervisor PERM granted.
Green card – PERM employment petition for immigration
Filed under: PERM | Tagged: Immigration, Immigration Attorney, Immigration Lawyer, PERM | Leave a comment »
Immigration Question: PERM audit. reason: a copy of the job order placed with the SWA serving the area of intended employment – Avvo.com http://ping.fm/jwW5K
Filed under: PERM audit | Tagged: Immigration, Immigration Attorney, Immigration Lawyer, PERM, PERM audit | Leave a comment »
Another Recent Win: http://ping.fm/AKRBZ : PERM just approved for First-Line Superviosr/Manager of Helpers, Laborers and Material Handlers
PERM and icert both have been restored at this time
Filed under: PERM | Tagged: Immigration, Immigration Attorney, Immigration Lawyer, PERM, PERM and iCERT systems are currently down, PERM Labor Certification | Leave a comment »
Question: I have many years of experience doing the work that I do and I’m very good at it. However, I do not want to wait years for a PERM visa number to be available. Are there any other options for getting a green card employment based visa?
Answer: Actionally there is another option for getting a green card employment based visa. It is called a National Interest Waiver. In these types of cases known as EB-2 cases, the employer offering the foreign national employment must file the preference petition on Form I-140, except when the alien is seeking an exemption from the job offer requirement, in which case the the foreign national or any person on his or her behalf may file the petition. To be exempt from the job offer requirement, the USCIS must determine that an exemption would be in the national interest. Hence the name ‘national interest waiver’ as a way of getting a green card employment based visa. A labor certification or PERM is not required if the job offer requirement is waived. In 1998, the government designated its first precedent decision discussing the standards governing national interest waiver requests. The case which was decided NYSDOT did make it quite difficult to get a National Interest Waiver for getting a green card employment based visa approved. The decision established stricter standards for obtaining national interest waivers than those applicable in the past. Getting a green card employment based visa meant for many having to wait years for the visa number to become current. For years, the government had declined to issue a comprehensive and controlling definition of national interest and instead had advised the Service Centers to treat petitions involving national interest waiver requests on a case-by-case basis. This made it difficult for attorneys to prepare the national interest waiver. It made it necessary to look at all options for getting a green card employment based visa. The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) had issued several non-binding decisions after enactment of the national interest program that elaborated on the applicable standard. The AAO took the position that the alien’s admission must provide a benefit to the country beyond a “prospective national benefit” which all exceptional ability and advanced-degree aliens must establish prior to their admission. In the years immediately after the enactment of the national interest waiver provision, the legacy INS had granted such waivers with some frequency relying in part on these early AAO decisions. In more recent years, however, the Service Centers began applying a more exacting standard to such requests requiring petitioners to establish, for example, that the alien possesses unique knowledge, abilities, or experience that set him or her apart from others in the field. The 1998 precedent decision continued this trend. Under the standards, it is critical that the National Interest Waiver be prepared with an abundance of evidence and exacting arguments to try to get the case approved. If successful, years of waiting time will be avoided.
Question: What must be established to get a National Interest Waiver so that other options for getting a green card employment based visa need not be considered?
Answer: The AAO held that the three factors must be considered when evaluating a request for a national interest waiver. First, the petitioner must establish that the alien’s proposed employment is in an area of substantial intrinsic merit. The importance of the occupation or the field of endeavor must be established as a threshold requirement. If a particular field of endeavor is related to an important national goal, this requirement should not be difficult to meet. If this is met you will not need to see what other options exist for getting a green card employment based visa. Eligibility for a national interest waiver is not established, however, solely by a showing that the alien’s field of endeavor has intrinsic merit. Blanket waivers for national interest waivers do not exist. Each must be approved seperately.
Second, the national interest waiver must be shown that the proposed benefit will be national in scope. If this can be shown, then getting theis type of green car employment based visa becomes much easier. The emphasis of this factor is on the existence of a national goal that the alien’s proposed undertaking will promote. Merely serving a regional, local, or private interest is not sufficient. The correlation between the national goal and the alien’s activity need not be direct, however. For example, in the 1998 case, the beneficiary’s occupation-the proper maintenance and operation of New York’s bridges and roads connecting the state to the national transportation system-met this threshold. While the alien’s employment was limited to a particular geographic area, the AAO noted that New York’s bridges and roads connect the state to the national transportation system. The proper maintenance and operation of these bridges and roads therefore serve the interests of other regions of the country.
Finally, it must be established that the “significant” benefit derived from this particular alien’s participation in the “national interest” field of endeavor “considerably” outweighs the “inherent” national interest in protecting U.S. workers through the labor certification process. This would be the key in getting the national interest waiver for this type of green card employment based visa. This standard sets up a balancing of interests, with the national interest in the labor certification process weighing in on one side as a strong adverse factor in granting the national interest waiver.
Thus, to get the national interest waiver is not easy. However, when you weigh putting together a good petition with a chance of success verses waiting years for other types of green card employment based visas, it is a good alternative to try to obtain residency.
National interest waiver meaning
Save years of waiting time with a national interest waiver
Law Offices of Brian D. Lerner, APC
Filed under: National Interest Waiver | Tagged: Immigration, Immigration Attorney, Immigration Law, Immigration Lawyer, National Interest Waiver, National Interest Waivers, PERM, Waivers | Leave a comment »
PERM approval from Law Offices of Brian D. Lerner: His position was FINANCIAL ANALYST requiring a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce or Finance + 7 years experience in Accounting/Financial Analyst/Jr. Assist. Manager. ANY SUITABLE COMBINATION OF EDUCATION, TRAINING OR EXPERIENCE ACCEPTABLE.
Board of alien labor certification appeals
Permanent labor certification: need help?
Filed under: PERM | Tagged: Immigration, Immigration Attorney, Immigration Law, Immigration Lawyer, PERM, PERM Labor Certification | Leave a comment »
Question: I am applying for the new PERM, but am having a very difficult time figuring out what is the prevailing wage and how to figure out what level it is. Can you please explain?
Answer: There are four levels to any job. Level 1 (entry) is for beginning level employees who have a basic understanding of the occupation. They perform routine tasks that require limited, if any, exercise of judgment. The tasks provide experience and familiarization with the employer’s methods, practices, and programs. The employees may perform higher-level work for training and development purposes. These employees work under close supervision and receive specific instructions on required tasks and results expected. Their work is closely monitored and reviewed for accuracy.
Level 2 (qualified) wage rates are assigned to job offers for qualified employees who have attained – either through education or experience – a good understanding of the occupation. They perform moderately complex tasks that require limited judgment. A Level 2 wage determination would be a requirement for years of education and/or experience
Level 3 (experienced) wages are for job offers for experienced employees who have a sound understanding of the occupation and have attained either through education or experience special skills or knowledge. They perform tasks that require exercising judgment and may coordinate the activities of other staff. They may have supervisory authority over those staff.
Level 4 (fully competent) wage rates are for competent employees who have sufficient experience in the occupation to plan and conduct work requiring judgment and the independent evaluation, selection, modification, and application of standard procedures and techniques. Such employees use advanced skills and diversified knowledge to solve unusual and complex problems. These employees receive only technical guidance and their work is reviewed only for application of sound judgment and effectiveness in meeting the establishment’s procedures and expectations. They generally have management and/or supervisory responsibilities.
Question: Does the amount of the prevailing wage change with the level it is at.
Answer: Most definitively. The higher the level, the higher the wage. This new system is preferable to the older system which had only two levels which were no experience and expert. Here, we have a more realistic way of assessing the experience so that someone with some experience will not have a wage that is much higher than their actual experience.
Filed under: Immigration Law, immigration provisions, PERM, Prevailing Wage, USCIS | Tagged: PERM, Prevailing Wage | 1 Comment »
Question: I have just filed under the PERM program and it was very fast. In fact, it only took two weeks after filing. Now I was prepared to file for my Adjustment of Status application, but am told I cannot. What is going on?
Answer: The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released its monthly Visa Bulletin for July 2005. This is a document which tells us which categories of employment based visas are current and which are not current. It basically lets us know what the processing priority date is. As of July 1, 2005, the third employment-based immigrant visa categories for professional workers, skilled workers, and unskilled workers will have reached their annual limits, and no further allocations of visas in these categories will be possible for citizens of any country through the end of 2005 fiscal year (FY 2005), which ends on September 30, 2005. With the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2005, immigrant visas will once again become available in these categories, but it is not possible to predict at this time what cut-off dates the DOS will impose. When retrogression occurs, the adjustment can no longer be filed.
Question: So what is the priority date that is being processed?
Answer: Note that through June 30, 2005, the cut-off date for professional and skilled workers is June 1, 2002; the cut-off date for unskilled workers from all countries is January 1, 1999. This means that you would have needed a Labor Certification priority date before that time. As of now, those categories are ‘U’ or unavailable.
Basically, individuals approved I-140 petitions in the third employment-based preference category for professional and skilled workers may apply for adjustment of status to permanent residence or for immigrant visas through June 30, 2005 only if their priority dates were before June 1, 2002. Adjustment applications received at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) service center on or before June 30, 2005 with the above met criteria are fine. Concurrent filings of the I-140 and adjustment applications were also permissible through June 30, 2005, provided the individual has a current EB-3 priority date for which an I-140 petition has not yet been filed. Again, such cases must have been received at the service center by June 30, 2005.
Question: What happened after June 30, 2005?
Answer: After June 30, 2005, the USCIS will reject all I-485 adjustment applications for third preference workers unless they are for occupations on the Department of Labor’s Schedule A. Individuals who are applying for immigrant visas abroad must have obtained their visas by June 30, 2005.
Recent legislation provided for the recapture of 50,000 employment-based immigrant visa numbers that were unused in FY 2001 through FY 2004. Such numbers are to be made available to employment-based immigrants described in the Department of Labor’s Schedule A and their accompanying spouses and children. Schedule A applies only to professional nurses, physical therapists, and certain aliens of exceptional ability in the sciences or arts. The Schedule A category is now current, meaning that immigrant visa numbers are available to Schedule A workers. The DOS estimates that immigrant visa numbers for Schedule A beneficiaries should be unaffected by the lack of professional and skilled worker EB-3 numbers for the foreseeable future.
With regard to properly filed adjustment applications (whether filed alone based on an approved I-140 petition or concurrently filed with an unapproved I-140 petition), such applications will be held in abeyance for the foreseeable future once EB-3 numbers retrogress on July 1. However, applicants will be entitled to employment authorization documents (EADs) and advance parole while their adjustment applications remain pending.
Filed under: Immigration Law, immigration provisions, PERM, Retrogression, USCIS | Tagged: PERM, Retrogression | Leave a comment »
Question: I understand that the new PERM applications can be submitted online. However, where the employer has established a sub-account for an attorney or agent is the attorney or agent permitted to submit applications on-line?
Answer: Yes, attorney or agent may submit applications under the following circumstances. An employer must complete the registration process as explained at http://www.plc.doleta.gov, including the initial log-in. During the initial log-in, the employer will change the employer’s temporary password (as assigned by the system during registration) and once logged-in, the employer can establish a sub-account for an attorney or agent. The employer will select a username for the attorney or agent, and the system will assign a temporary password. The attorney or agent will receive an e-mail with the username, temporary password, and the employer’s PIN. When the attorney or agent logs in and changes the attorney’s or agent’s password, the attorney or agent is then permitted to complete and submit applications on-line on behalf of the employer using the PIN of the employer in whose name the application is being filed.
Question: Are there any circumstances under which mailing in a labor certification application would prove more successful than electronically submitting an application on-line?
Answer: No, mailing-in an application will not prove more successful, as the mailed-in application, upon receipt at the National Processing Center, is date stamped. Until the application is data entered into the system by a data entry person (using the exact information shown on the form 9089), processing will not begin on the application. Once entered in the system, the mailed-in application receives the exact same automated analysis and manual scrutiny as an application submitted electronically. If there are two identical applications, one submitted electronically and one mailed-in, there will be no difference in how they are processed. The only difference will be in processing time; a mailed-in application will take longer, as not only mailing but also the data entry time will be involved. Remember: the on-line system will identify mistakes (e.g. entering four digits for a zip code instead of five digits) before allowing the application to be submitted, but the data entry person must enter the information exactly as shown on the application; a mistake on the form may trigger an audit or denial.
Question: Are there some tips you might have to get the process done quicker?
Answer: DOL verifies the existence of each employer that attempts to register. At first, this process went very quickly and employers received their PIN numbers and passwords sometimes within hours. Now that more employers are registering, it is taking an average of two weeks to get feedback on a registration. Because of the length of time it’s taking to register an employer, some are attempting to register multiple times, thus exacerbating the problem.
In many cases, DOL is sending back emails indicating that it cannot verify the employer’s existence and/or asking for documentation to verify that existence. DOL provided some pointers to avoid these requests or, if received, to respond to them:
• On the form, please make sure that the company’s Headquarters address is included as the company address. You can put the address of the office where the beneficiary will work in the appropriate box, but it’s the overall corporate address that is pivotal on the “existence check”.
• Avoid “doing business as (dba)” names wherever possible, and instead use the company’s legal name. The dba may complicate an existence check.
• For companies that have several EINs, please use the EIN that the company had when it filed its articles of incorporation. If a separately incorporated subsidiary is registering, do use that subsidiary’s EIN, but don’t use a different EIN if the employer is just a division, or otherwise is not a legally separate entity.
• The DOL recognizes that the Form SS-4 may not be readily available to some employers. If you’ve received a request for documentation to verify the employer’s existence that requests a Form SS-4, the DOL indicates that it will accept the employer’s most recent quarterly tax return instead. It has recently changed its requests to include that option, but if you received one of the old requests that give no alternative to the Form SS-4, please be advised that the quarterly tax return is nonetheless an option.
• To create a sub-account for an attorney, the employer must log on using the designated PIN and password and create the account.
• The employer can view all filings prepared by attorneys for which it has set up sub-accounts, but an attorney can view only the applications he or she has done, and cannot view any filings done by the employer or its other attorneys.
• Because DOL wants the employer to be answerable for the process, an attorney will need to have a separate user account and password for each of its client companies. DOL realizes the difficulties this presents in managing multiple passwords, but is insistent on this system.
• When an employer registers, it gets two emails, one providing the PIN and one providing a password. The employer is then supposed to log on and change the password to one of its own choosing. DOL notes that some employers have been simply forwarding the PIN and password to the attorney, and then the attorney logs in and changes the password. The employer then loses control of the account, as it no longer has control of the password. DOL asks that employers make the password change themselves, as DOL want the employer to maintain control of the master account.
• Some employers have been having trouble receiving the emails with the PINs and passwords because of their spam filters. Because they come in two consecutive emails from the same sender—Dept. of Labor—some spam filters clear the emails out into the spam box. This, apparently, is a particular problem with those who use AOL as their ISP. One solution DOL suggests (apart from checking your spam box) is to create a free email account on Yahoo or hotmail for this purpose and thereby bypass the AOL filters. You might also be able to turn off some of AOL’s spam blocking.
Therefore, it seems as though it might take some time to get used to, but once familiar, it should go faster.
Filed under: Immigration, Immigration Law, immigration provisions, PERM, USCIS | Tagged: Online Filing, PERM | 1 Comment »
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